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Here are some of the articles that have been recently posted to the PASSCAL website:

Kinemetrics Episensor ES-T Accelerometer

 

Salient Features:

The Kinemetrics EpiSensor force-balanced accelerometer is a uniaxial surface package designed primarily for structural engineering applications. However, it can be used in a variety of applications for measuring accelerations up to ±4g and down to the ambient noise level. With full-scale recording ranges of ± 0.25 to ± 4g (user selectable) the EpiSensor provides on-scale recording of earthquake motions even at near-fault locations and in a wide variety of structure types.

07/07/2017
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RefTek RT130 Timing Errors Affecting EPIC and FA Experiments

August 20, 2008 Updated: December 15, 2008. Program refj31fix released

Stations Affected: RT130 connected to a 130-GPS/01 with SiRF ublox Trimble module installed (aka SiRF-type)

Description of Problem: Starting on July 31st 2008 (julian day 213 2008) the SiRF-type started to shift in time by a second.  Since the 31st July 2008 the mysterious time shifts (back and forth) continue. At present SiRF has no explanation for these time shifts.

Identifying SiRF GPS:

04/26/2017
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ref2sac fixes and enhancements

ref2sac incorrectly converts Ref Tek RT 130 data files to SAC. I found and fixed a number of bugs in the Mac OS X PASSOFT release of ref2sac. I added LAT, LON, and ELEV to the SAC files. I set the dependent variable type in the SAC file to UNKNOWN, since the data are in counts, not engineering units. I added an option to create the SAC output files in a single, flat directory structure, with unique file names. Those names include an .R. to identify that they contain raw counts.

Attached are my patched files and a README of the changes, plus several sample data files. (The sample data files should not be redistributed without permission.) The sample data files were converted to SAC using the following commands:

03/15/2017
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Shipping for Experiments

Policy

The cost of shipping EPIC equipment to and from field experiments is the responsibility of the requesting institution. Accurate estimates of these shipping costs are important because they may constitute a significant portion of project budget.

Shipping costs incurred by the EPIC (PIC) are billed to the experiment through EarthScope Headquarters. Please allow 2 months for receipt of this bill. If you have not received a bill by this time please contact EarthScope.

To obtain accurate price quotes from shipping companies, you will need:

point of origin  final destination  projected pick up date projected delivery date total number of pallets (including an individual piece count) total weight

volume (l x w x h)

02/01/2017
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Tutorial on EPIC's New Instrument Request Form and PI Home Page

In June 2016, EPIC implemented a new version of the Instrument Scheduling Database.

This tutorial shows Principal Investigators how to request an account, how to log in, how to use the PI Home Page, and how to submit a new and/or modify an existing Instrument Request.

01/17/2017
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Sensor Certification

Introduction:

All equipment, especially sensors and cables, are cleaned and comprehensively tested when they arrive at the PIC, regardless of whether the equipment are newly delivered from the manufacturer or being returned from an experiment.  EPIC makes every effort to ensure that all equipment are operating to the manufacturers specifications.

This article outlines the procedures undertaken and metrics employed by the PIC to verify that sensors operate within manufacturers specifications.

Procedures:

All sensors returning from a field experiment are subject to the following procedures:

12/22/2016
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EPIC Intern Spends Summer on the Ice

EarthScope/EPIC summer intern Alan Shi has some interesting stories to tell about his last few months with the EPIC in Socorro, NM.  The season began calmly enough, and Alan enjoyed developing a testing enclosure to verify that field equipment boxes such as the MEVO (Mt. Erebus Volcanic Observatory) boxes were distributing power properly, as well as performing ruggedness-testing of memory sticks before their use to collect data in arctic regions. But, the most impressive part of Alan's summer by far was his deployment to the rapidly-changing ice sheets of Greenland.  Here are some recollections and photographs of intern Shi's experiences on the ice.

 

12/08/2016
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EarthScope EPIC Presentations at the Seismological Society of America 2014 Meeting

Several staff members of the EarthScope EPIC are making presentations at this year's Seismological Society of America Annual Meeting in Anchorage, Alaska.

Here follow abstracts for our three presentations, along with links to the posters.

 

 

11/19/2016
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Seismological Society of America 2009 Annual Meeting Presentations

These are selected presentations from the 2009 Annual Meeting of the Seismological Society of America (8-10 April, Monterey, California).

Special Session: Seismological Field Work: The Good, Bad, and Ugly

11/16/2016
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Instrument Use Policy

Sept 12, 2006 INTRODUCTION

Portable field recording equipment and field computers purchased by the EPIC Program are available to any research or educational institution to use for research purposes within the guidelines established in this document. The intent of these guidelines is to establish the procedures to enable investigators to request the instruments, to let them know what requirements and responsibilities are incurred in borrowing the equipment and to know when and how the decisions on instrument allocation will be made.

10/03/2016
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